Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) is growing in popularity while Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is being looked at as more of a legacy approach for businesses. Whether you are looking for a new deployment or to change how you're doing things currently, having a better understanding of DaaS and the direction it's moving in can help your organization plan for success.
DaaS is a cloud computing technology used to virtualize computing resources and deliver desktop services to end users. DaaS providers usually handle the management of most things on the backend for businesses who do not want to deploy their own VDI solution internally.
DaaS evolved out of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and is often used as a faster and more affordable deployment than a self managed VDI approach. A DaaS provider uses cloud platforms to host virtual machines, manage the base layers of the operating system, and stream the desktop directly to the end users. DaaS deployments also enable IT teams to quickly scale whenever necessary. For example, if you were opening a new office and needed 100 new desktops, you could just contact your DaaS vendor and have them spun up within a few hours. A self managed VDI approach would give your IT team more control over your environment but it does require more manpower in order to deploy and maintain the solution all internally. The lower cost and management requirements associated with DaaS are one of the main reasons we are seeing an increase in its popularity.
Even though the DaaS provider takes care of a lot of the IT management overhead, admins still need to provide the required applications for their users and the configuration of those environments. When setting up your DaaS deployment, it's integral to determine how much control your team will need to have. If your users only need to be able to access the basic Windows Suite of tools, then a managed DaaS provider may be all you need. Complexities with DaaS deployments tend to arise when organizations have large numbers of end users who all require different applications and functions. Satisfying individual user needs such as printing can become a challenge when using a cloud-hosted and multi-tenant desktop environment.
When it comes to managing printing in a DaaS deployment, it's important too remember that the printer itself is on-premises somewhere. This means the print job still needs to come down from the cloud and process to the device. A lot can go wrong during this including driver management issues, printer deployment issues, and even slowed performances. Most virtualization platforms like Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware have remote printing capabilities or virtual drivers that can help mitigate these printing issues. These platforms are usually only dedicated to their specific solution so it can still be complicated to manage printing if you have a variety of printers and multiple application delivery mechanisms. Utilizing a third party universal virtual print driver can help to eliminate these types of printing issues.
ScrewDrivers® Enterprise from Tricerat contains technologies that enhance DaaS desktops by giving users a dynamic print environment, including printing self-service, that connects to other cloud resources or to on-premises print servers. The ScrewDrivers Cloud Connector runs on a local print server as well as a cloud server to transmit print jobs securely and efficiently from cloud desktops to local printers. With the cloud connector in place, administrators can assign printers to users or clients using a simple drag-and-drop console for maximum efficiency and flexibility. The ScrewDrivers virtual driver enables this, bringing a customized print experience to the user regardless of their environment type.
To learn more about what the future holds for DaaS and printing, check out our video featuring Tricerat's CTO and Lead Architect breaking down industry trends and predicting how it will impact DaaS deployments today.
